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She’s the New York actor who was discovered on her front-porch step.
The comic-book specialist who has voiced or portrayed everyone from Josie and the Pussycats’ Valerie Brown to DC Comics’ Diana Prince and Barbara Gordon and worked with a range of directors including Oliver Stone, Chris Columbus and Barry Sonnenfeld.
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From Spike Lee to Danny Boyle, Rosario Dawson has been a muse for a number of high-profile directors.
The now 44-year-old, who has lit up the small screen in diverse roles on shows like Luke Cage, Dopesick and Jane the Virgin.
As she takes centre stage in Disney+’s latest Star Wars series Ahsoka and stars in the Mouse House’s reboot of its Disneyland-ride inspired Haunted Mansion, Stuff to Watch takes a look back at Rosario Dawson’s most memorable roles so far (and lets you know where you can watch them right now).
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Meet Clerks II’s Mooby’s crew.
Clerks II (2006, iTunes, GooglePlay, YouTube)
Twelve years after his cult original, no-budget slacker comedy, Kevin Smith crafted another fresh, hip, cool and crisp take.
While the production values increased markedly, he still managed to give the film an intimate, insanitary fly-on- the-wall feel with hand-held cameras and long-takes.
Displaying an, until then, untapped skill for comedy, an effervescent Dawson steals the show as the charismatic boss of the local branch of fast-food restaurant Mooby’s – home of the Cow Tipper and Freedom Toast.
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Zoe Bell, Tracie Toms and Mary Elizabeth Winstead joined Dawson in Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof.
Death Proof (2007, Prime Video)
Originally released as the second-half of double-feature experiment Grindhouse (alongside Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror), this black-comedy action-thriller ended up being released as a standalone feature in countries like New Zealand.
Kurt Russell plays a serial-killing stuntman who finally may have met his match when comes up against a group of young women played by Dawson, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Tracie Toms and our own Zoe Bell. Subtle it ain’t, gleefully entertaining it more than occasionally was.
“Seriously entertaining American filmmaking and definitely not the half-serious pastiche it could easily have been,” wrote Empire magazine’s Damon Wise. “No seatbelt, no airbag, no nuthin’ – just Tarantino driving wildly under the influence.”
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Dawson made her screen debut as Ruby in Kids.
Kids (1995, iTunes, GooglePlay)
Dawson made her screen debut alongside Chloe Sevigny in Larry Clarke’s controversial and provocative coming-of-age drama which focuses on a group of New York City teenagers and their hedonistic behaviour over the course of a single day.
Nominated for the Palme d’Or, it caused plenty of angst on its release in America, but also made a significant profit.
“An emotional sucker punch, a raw, dirty, disturbing piece of cinema verite filmmaking that simultaneously hooks and repulses you from its opening scenes,” wrote Austin Chronicle’s Marc Savlov.
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Dawson starred opposite Clive Owen in Sin City.
Sin City (2005, Neon)
Although Robert Rodriguez’s atmospheric and stunningly realised adaptation of Frank Miller’s seminal graphic novel features an ensemble to die for (everyone from Bruce Willis and Mickey Rourke to Clive Owen, Jessica Alba and Benicio Del Toro), Dawson’s feisty lady- of-the-night Gail is one of the portmanteau pic’s most memorable characters (she even returned in the 2014 sequel subtitled A Dame to Kill For).
“Hits right between the eyes with a striking blend of old-school noir and new fangled comic-book visuals,” wrote BBC.com’s Stella Papamichael.
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Dawson plays Trance’s hypnotherapist Elizabeth Lamb.
Trance (2013, Disney+)
James McAvoy might be the headliner, but Dawson delivers the most eye-catching performance in Danny Boyle’s polarising psychological thriller.
She plays hypnotherapist Elizabeth Lamb, who attempts to assist McAvoy’s amnesiac fine-art auctioneer Simon remember where he hid a priceless Goya painting as part of an elaborate heist.
“Dawson walks through this film with majestic confidence, while McAvoy is constantly inches from a full breakdown. And Boyle keeps that tension mesmerising,” wrote Detroit News’ Tom Long.
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Dawson teamed up with Edward Norton for 25th Hour.
25th Hour (2002, Disney+)
One of the first movies set in New York after 9/11, Spike Lee’s 2002 adaptation of David Benioff’s novel features a searing performance from Edward Norton as a Gotham drug dealer who re-evaluates his life in the time he has left before serving a seven-year jail term.
Dawson plays his complex girlfriend and confidante Naturelle Riviera.
“Superbly acted, as you would expect, it’s also rich in moral nuance. Doing the right thing is not as simple in his [Lee’s] films as it once was,” wrote the Sydney Morning Herald’s Paul Byrnes.
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